Morning Flurries: Kerfoot gets his first, Jost gives us a scare and the Yak Attack is Back

Well that was fun. The Colorado Avalanche came home to the Pepsi Center last night and gave the home fans their best effort so far this season. The Avs were dominant for most of the game, outshooting the Boston Bruins 37-23 on the way to a 6-3 victory. For the first time this season, Semyon Varlamov didn’t have to stand on his head in order to get the win. Here’s a full breakdown of the game from Cat Silverman.

During the game last night, rookie forward Alex Kerfoot scored his first of what is likely to be many NHL goals. The Avs winger spent four years playing in Boston for Harvard, and listening to the NESN broadcast, it sounds Beantown misses him.

While it was a great night for the Avs, fans were given quite a scare when prized rookie Tyson Jost had to be helped off the ice after taking a brutally dirty hit from Adam McQuaid. This hit absolutely deserves a suspension but given the NHL’s history, I have a bad feeling McQuaid won’t miss any time. Luckily for Jost, he was able to return to the game - scoring an empty net goal.

And what can we say about Nail Yakupov?

Yak appears to be comfortable for the first time in his NHL career. The former 1st overall pick has been given up on by two different organizations and looked like he was destined to fade away from the NHL. Now - on what might have been his last chance - Yakupov finally looks comfortable in Denver.

“It is fun. It starts from the locker room, with the boys, and I think I have really good chemistry with everyone,”

He tells the Denver Post that he’s glad he found his way to Colorado. The Avs took a bit of a risk bringing Yak in, but so far this season it looks like it’s definitely paying off.

From Around the Hockey World

It looks like the NHL career is over for former Colorado College defenseman Mark Stuart. The 33-year old who played the past six season with the Winnipeg Jets has signed a contract to play for Alder Mannheim of the DEL in Germany.

Back in the NHL, Elliotte Friedman of Hockey Night in Canada is reporting that the Rangers have not had any talks with pending UFA Rick Nash - lending credence to the rumor that this is his last year in New York. Nash has lost a few steps to his game, but he’s as a rental at the trade deadline he could still be a big help to a contending team.

Down in Tampa, the Lightning are nearing a deadline of their own. They are going to have to decide whether they keep Mikhal Sergachev up in the NHL beyond 9 games or send him back to the OHL. He’s been pretty good so far this season, but Steve Yzerman and the Lightning have always been overly cautious with their prospects. Here is a great look the factors that will go into the decision from our friends at RawCharge.